Complex polysaccharides have a variety of industrial applications. Generally these molecules alter the physical properties--including viscosity and rheology--of fluid media in which they are suspended. Accordingly, complex polysaccharides are used as thickeners in the food industry, for suspending waste fragments in drilling or cutting operations, and as water soluble lubricants. Baird et al., "Industrial Applications Of Some New Microbial Polysaccharides," Biotechnology, November 1983, pp. 778-83. For similar reasons, complex polysaccharides are also used to reduce turbulence of fluid flow in pipelines and other containers. J. W. Hoyt, Drag Reduction In Polysaccharide Solutions, Trends In Biotechnology, 3, 17-20 (1985). The physico-chemical basis for these effects is not understood, id. although correlations between drag reduction and the extensional viscosity of polysaccharides have been reported. G. R. Petersen et al., "Rheologically Interesting Polysaccharides From Yeasts", Appl. Biochem. Biotech., 20/21, 845-67 (1989).
Because the basis for these useful properties of complex polysaccharides is not understood, the identification of useful complex polysaccharides requires screening of candidate polymers. Accordingly, it is desirable to develop methods for producing new candidate complex polysaccharides for evaluation.